Fluid coupling drive



Jan.2o,1942.' C1A. NERAcHER Em; 2,210,545

FLUID couPLING DRIVE Filed Jan. 11, 1940 '1 ze ff i931 a EL f/ 1 51M 2 3- H' 1J f 25 lll c /9 n En?? I i; /f i i." "*ZaJ @Y Jn:

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Patented Jan. 20, 1942 FLUID CoUPLING pmvE Carl A. Neracher and William T. Dunn, Detroit, Mich., assignors to Chrysler Corporation, Highland Park, Mich.a'corporation of Delaware Application January 11, 1940, Serial No. 313,382

2 Claims.I

- This invention relates -to fluid coupling drives and refers more particularly to improvements in controlling the drive between driving and driven members of such couplings.

Fluid couplings are used in transmitting power in a wide variety of machines. One such use, by way of example, relates to motor vehicle installation wherein a fluid coupling has known advantages in transmitting drive from the engine to the' driving ground wheels of the vehicle. Inasmuch -as a motor vehicle installation is typical of the wide variety of uses to whichour invention may be put, we will for the most part describecertain fundamentals of this type of installation from which it will be apparent that our invention will have corresponding advantages' in any equipment having to do with uid drives, fluid clutching, and the like. l

In motorvehicles employing a fluid coupling, itl is desirable to, at times, break or so reduce the drive connection from the engine to the vehicle such that when the' vehicle is standing and the engine running, the car will not creep. Vous attempts have been made to meet this con- Varidition such as by providing an ordinary` friction clutch ahead of or behind the fluid coupling, or

. by providing a transmission operable to afford a neutral condition on stopping the car. Such methods lead to expense and complication and for many reasons are not always desirable especially when used with standard commercial types of transmissions which require or make vadvisable the provision of some means to fully unload the transmissioninput shaft at the time of shifting gears.

With the foregoing in mind it is an object of our -invention to provide simple and effective means forovercoming the aforesaid objections -by rendering the uid coupling inoperable or for tion all circulation between the vanes of the impeller and runner may be eliminated.

Further objects and advantages of our invention will be more apparent from the following description of one embodiment thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevational view through the fluid coupling showing the coupling parts in their normal operating positions.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the coupling parts positioned to interrupt drive'therebetween.

Fig. 3 is a detail elevational view taken as indicated by line 3-3 of Fig. 1

In the drawing reference character Ill. is the driving shaft, herein illustrated as th'e rear end portion of an engine crankshaft. The fluid coupling impeller A is driven from shaft I0 and may for this purpose be directly mounted on said shaft by fasteners I I.

The fluid coupling is in general of the Well known kinetic type comprising multiple vaned passages for circulating the fluid between the impellerand runner. Thus, impeller A has an annular dished cover I2 from which the radial vanes I3 extend to define impeller passages which receive fluid from the runner at transfer zone I4 and which direct the fluid at zone I5 to drive the runner.

The runner B has associated therewith a maskingstructure C. The runner B comprises an annular dished cover I6 mounted on a sleeve I'I and formed withvanes I8 forming runner pasbecause the uid will neverthelessfjump the gap between the coupling members making it impossible to eliminate drive between the members as sages generally similar tothe impeller passages. The mask C comprises a dished cover I9 mounted on the axially7 xed driven shaft 20, this cover being shaped to t within cover I6 with the parts positioned as in Fig. 1. The cover I9 is formed with a plurality of radially extending circumferentially spaced slots respectively slidably fitting the vanes I8.

The fluid. coupling comprising impeller A and runner B are of general toroidal form, the impeller and runnercomprising hemi-toroidal portions. This form of fluid coupling presents many difficulties, largely because of the shape, in controlling the fluid ilow between the vanes of the impeller and runner.

The sleeve Il is splined at 2| on the driven shaft 20 and is axially shiftable to adjust the runner B between its Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 positions by a lever operator 22 adapted to be rocked about shaft 23 by any suitable power or manually applied means. One manner of operating the lever 22 is to connect the same to what is ordinarily the vehicle clutch pedal 24 so that when the pedal is fully depressed the runner is moved to its Fig. 2 position. Sleeve I'I is sealed at 25 against escape of fluid. Spring 25EL returns pedal 24 and a stop 25b limits its operated stroke. i

The cover I2 has an annular shrouding extension 26 dished to receive cover I6 as in Fig. 2 and extended inwardly for sealing at 21 against fluid leak.

In order to reduce the movement of runner B to a fully maskedy position and at the same 'time insure continued engagement at all times of vanes I8 with slots 2I`, the forward or inner edges of vanes I8 are recessed at 28 intermediate zones I4 and I5 so that in the Fig. 2 position no portion of the vanes I8 project within the chamber 29 of the mask C. But for the recess 28 in vanes I8 the runner B would have to be moved considerably further rearwardly from the Fig. 2 position to fully mask vanes I8 by cover I9 and then there would be danger of losing the engagement of vanes I8 in slots 2|.

In the operation of the device, with the parts positioned as in Fig. 1, the fluid coupling operates in conventional manner in transferring a slip drive between shafts I and 20. When it is desired to break the drive to entirely disconnect shaft 20 from shaft I0, pedal 24 is depressed to thereby shift runner B to the Fig. 2 position. Under such conditions the uid circulates from impeller A to the chamber 29 but mask C prevents the fluid from acting on the runner vanes I8 so that the runner is fully unloaded.

It will be apparent that if the pedal 24 is only partially depressed less than its full stroke, the runner B will be correspondingly shifted to a partially masked position and in this manner any desired degree -of slip may be provided in the drive through the coupling. This arrangement also insures a smooth pick-up or clutching action when pedal 24 is released especially where the impeller speed is then relatively high. As both the mask C and runner B are arranged for connection to shaft 20, the vanes I8 are not required to drive shaft 20 through slots 2l and therefore the shift of runner B may be easily made.

Because of the slotting of the hemi-toroidal mask C for slidably receiving the runner vanes I8, we may provide an annular reinforcing band 30 for the outer edge of housing I9. In Fig. 1 the vanes I8 are terminally disposed within this band 30 when thel housingV I9 is nested within housing I6.

We claim:

1. A uid coupling comprising cooperable fluidcirculating relatively rotatable vane-carrying structures each having an annular dished support, a third structure comprising a slotted annular dished structure nesting within the dished support of one of the rst said structures with the vanes thereof projecting through the slots of said third structure, and means for connecting said one and third structures together to prevent their relative rotation while accommodating their relative displacement in the direction of the axis of rotation of said one structure, said connecting means being adapted to maintain the slots of said third structure substantially free from torque-transmitting relationship with respect to the vanes of said one structure.

2. A fluid coupling comprising coaxial relatively rotatable impeller and runner structures eachhaving a plurality of vanes defining fluid conducting passages, one of said structures being adapted for displacement in the direction of the axis of rotation of said structures from a normal position providing fluid circulating cooperation with said other structure to a second position, a mask having a plurality of slots arranged to slidably receive the respective vanes of said displaceable structure, said mask being so disposed as to reduce Acirculation of fluid between the vane passages of said structures when said displaceable structure isdisplaced to its said second position, and means providing a drive connection between said mask and said displaceable. structure, said drive connection being so constructed and arranged as to maintain said slots out of torque transmitting relation with respect to the vanes of said displaceable structure and thereby facilitate said displacement of said displaceable structure.

CARL A. NERACHER. vWILLIAM T. DUNN. 

